President Paul Kagame, 2008
The news these days from Africa isn’t all bad. In fact, in some places, it’s downright hopeful, as Rwandan President Paul Kagame attests. “Our continent is no longer all about violence and disease and human disasters that scarred many African countries in recent decades,” says Kagame. “We are now becoming a continent of opportunities.” There are those who doubted Rwanda could “constitute a viable state,” says Kagame, but 14 years after bloody genocide and civil war, his country has managed an astonishing revival.
President Oscar Arias Sánchez, 1997
After studying in the United States, Oscar Arias Sánchez (b. 1940) studied law and economics at the University of Costa Rica and engaged actively in the work of the National Liberation Party. Having completed his degree, he went on to finish his doctorate in England, with a thesis on the subject of “Who Rules Costa Rica?”
Ephraim Katzir, 1979
Ephraim Katzir (b. 1916) was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and served as the 4th President of Israel from 1973 to 1978. In 1925, his family immigrated to Palestine and attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he eventually completed a Ph.D. in biophysics. He was an assistant in the Hebrew University’s department for theoretical and macromolecular chemistry from 1941 to 1945. In 1949, he was appointed acting head and then head of the department of biophysics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. In 1951, he spent a sabbatical year at Harvard Medical School. From 1966 to 1968 Katzir was chief scientist of the Israel Defense Ministry.
McGeorge Bundy, 1968
McGeorge Bundy (1919-1996) was the United States National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961-1966. Bundy was also a noted Professor of Government at Harvard, and was known as a strong proponent for the American bombing of North Vietnam. Bundy later expressed regret over the decision, and was one of the first administration members to do so publicly. He spent much of his later career analyzing and criticizing America’s Vietnam policy. He subsequently served as president of the Ford Foundation from 1966-1979.
